Give a listen to my message, The Great ‘Until’

A Psalm of David.

The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.

Rule in the midst of Your enemies!

Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power;

In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.

The Lord has sworn and will not relent,

“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside;

Therefore He shall lift up the head.

Psalm 110 NKJV

For those who prefer to read rather than listen, the written version of this message is below.

Psalm 110 is the most quoted passage of Old Testament scripture contained in the New Testament. It provides context for the whole New Testament, informing the biblical worldview of Christians throughout the world. How different groups and individuals interpret the New Testament’s use of this passage greatly affects a person’s view regarding the current condition and mission of the church, as well as a person’s views regarding the return of Jesus.

In verse one, we receive the oracle of King David. David is witnessing the Lord, the maker of the heavens and the earth, speaking to David’s own Lord. Let us consider the apostle Peter’s use of this passage in Acts 2.

While preaching to the crowd, Peter declared,

“David was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of David’s descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, (David) spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah… God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

By Peter’s own testimony, we can see that Psalm 110 is a prophetic picture into a conversation between the Father and Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth is revealed to us in the New Testament as Israel’s long awaited Messiah king, and when Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, it fulfilled a portion of David’s prophecy from so long ago. As followers of Jesus, we understand that Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father are co-eternally the one true God. Yet we also perceive the divine mystery that they are also three distinct persons, who are fully able to converse with one another.

Let’s take a deeper look into this conversation between Father and Son. It begins with the Fatherly command:

“Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

Until. This is the interpretive key. Until what? So far, Jesus hasn’t departed from the right hand of the Father since His resurrection and ascension into heaven. Yet we see from the passage, there is a time coming when Jesus will depart from the Father’s right hand.

The fact that Jesus is still seated at the Father’s right hand means Jesus is still waiting for some reason. What is it? The passage tells us.

He is waiting for the Father to subject all of Jesus’ enemies under His feet. Have some of Jesus’ enemies been subjected under Jesus’ feet. Most certainly! Have all of His enemies been subjected beneath Jesus’ feet? According to the Bible’s own testimony, this does not happen until Jesus’ return.

This provides the context of New Testament life that began 2,000 years ago, and will continue until the day of Jesus’ return to rule and reign from David’s throne in Jerusalem. The bible is prescribing an expectation, something we can hold onto by faith. This faith expectation is that both Jesus and His followers are eagerly awaiting this future glorious day of His return. This also means that the present sin condition of the world will continue until Jesus returns.

The next verse of Psalm 110 communicates what will happen when Jesus returns.

“The Lord (YAHWEH) shall send the rod of Your (Jesus’) strength out of Zion (earthly Jerusalem). Rule in the midst of Your enemies!”

Only the Father knows this day and hour, yet we can believe with full confidence that He will establish Jesus’ rule out of Zion. Throughout the Old Testament, Zion is defined as earthly Jerusalem. This definition is not redefined anywhere in the Scriptures. One day, Jesus will come out of the heavens just as He went up, and He will return to earth. Shortly after Jesus returns to earth, He will establish His government from Jerusalem. To do so, He will need to “rule in the midst” of His enemies.

On that coming day, the enemies of Jesus will be subjugated under the feet of Jesus. This is what the scripture refers to as the great and terrible day of the Lord and the great tribulation.

Wicked rulers will be overthrown by God’s wrath in a military campaign culminating at a battle often referred to as Armageddon. Oppressors and workers of injustice will be put to death. The meek and lowly, those who followed Jesus, will be exalted to inherit the earth. The dead in Christ will be resurrected. All Israel will be saved. It will be both a grave and glorious time! The day of the Lord is a time when this current age of sin will be put to an end, and a new age of righteousness will begin on the earth.

Continuing in Psalm 110, we see the condition of the followers of Jesus

“Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power;

In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.”

This verse is often misconstrued, but I believe Isaiah 63 and Psalm 68 provide a good backdrop for what’s going to take place here. Imagine, the dead in Christ are raised and (if we’re still alive at that time) we’ve been gathered with them to meet Jesus in the air as He descends out of heaven en route to the Middle East to make an end to the great tribulation at the end of this age. As those who are “with Jesus where He is”, we are headed into the epicenter of the violence that will take place at the end of the great tribulation. Normally, this would be terrifying, but we need to understand that when this happens we will be in our immortal and glorified resurrected human bodies.

We will be with Jesus on the day of His power. If we take a look at Isaiah 63, we can see what Jesus is doing during this time. He is treading the winepress of His fury and releasing the wrath of God. This is a work of justice that only God can accomplish through Jesus. No one other than Jesus is worthy to accomplish this work of wrath, which is why as believers we must “leave room for the wrath of God”.

Next, take a look at Psalm 68 to see what believers will be doing in context to Jesus’ wrath. It is revealed that we are part of His holy congregation, in attendance to the works of God. In essence, the multitudes of Jesus’ holy ones will be leading a procession of worship, glorifying Jesus as He defeats His enemies, putting an end to wickedness, oppression, abuse, and all forms of unrighteousness and injustice.

Going back to our Psalm, this scene is described as the beauty of holiness at the womb of the morning (meaning, the end of this present age and the dawn of the age to come), and we will be with our Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, to witness Him inaugurate His government of righteous rule in the earth.

Moving on to the next lyric of the Psalm, it says:

“The Lord has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” “

Many christians understand rightly that Jesus is the high priest even today. The writer of Hebrews teaches us that even now, as Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, He is making intercession for each of us as a faithful and merciful priest.

When Jesus departs from the right hand of the Father, He is not departing from any calling or identity. Rather, He is walking in greater fullness of His calling. Jesus will continue to be both the Messiah King, and High Priest according to Melchizedek, for all of eternity. At Jesus’ return, He will bring forth the fullness of New Covenant promises. As Jesus’ beloved, we receive our full inheritance when Jesus receives His full inheritance. On another day, we can look deeper into what it means for Jesus to be in a priesthood according to Melchizedek.

For now, we move through our Psalm. The next verse says:

“The Lord is at Your right hand”

David witnessed Jesus at the right hand of the Father. This is prophetic language. David foresaw what was yet to come as though it had already happened. In the bible, when this type of event takes place, please understand it to be a sure and faithful prophetic promise. Nothing in the heavens, or on the earth can stop the Lord from accomplishing His will in this matter. Mankind is invited to participate in God’s plans, and we are encouraged to do so repeatedly throughout the Bible. Yet, while some matters of faith remain subject to humanity’s free will, there are many vital matters to our faith that are entirely in the hand of God. Because God is faithful and He does not lie, we know that no human intervention or spiritual intervention can remove Jesus from the authority and destiny promised to Him by His Father.

We’re invited to participate in this process, and there are even passages of Scripture that suggest we can quicken the day of Jesus’ return, however, whether this day be near or far away, we can be assured beyond doubt that Jesus will fulfill every last promise.

“He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries.”

Many people don’t care for this view of Jesus. We like the Prince of Peace and the Savior, but we don’t like to advertise the conquering Messiah who will crush His enemies and pile up dead bodies. Yet, this message is a cornerstone of the Gospel and it is vital we tell people the truth. Ultimately, the violence of Jesus’ return will put an end to the violence of sin.

Consider some of the people throughout the earth who are suffering the most terrible forms of abuse. Should you be someone who is being sex trafficked, you would want someone to rescue you. Even if you are not the violent type, you would still be relieved if your captor were killed during your rescue. This is just one scenario of many, many others that will play out at the time of Jesus’ return. The wicked rulers, oppressors, and abusers of the world will not want to relinquish their power to Jesus. They will not want to give up their systems of exploitation and injustice. Even so, their only opportunity for salvation is to repent from these things now. Jesus is merciful and will forgive, but if they continue in their oppressive ways, they will face God’s wrath.

We need to understand and proclaim the conquering Messiah to the world. It is hope for the oppressed and fear for the oppressor.

On the other hand, I would be unfair if I did not mention that there are people who love the message of a conquering Messiah in some very wrong and twisted ways. From the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, up until today, there are people who take up the message of the conquering Messiah and attempt to bring about the government of God on their own terms and conditions.

They view “bringing the kingdom of God” as a mission to take over the earth for Jesus now. They view the church as the rightful authority over the governments and societies of earth. Throughout history, every instance where Christians have adopted this mindset, a terrible abuse of power has resulted.

In this present age, we are stepping out of our bounds in our mandate to be Jesus’ ambassadors and emissaries when we try to exert the power of Jesus’ rule by our own methods before His return. We can’t “bring the kingdom” in such a manner because we will always do so corruptly. This does not mean Christians are supposed to be pacifists or uninvolved in society and government all together. But it does mean that we need to be very wary of anyone who would attempt to impose a “christian government” over a society or country. 

Our true mission is to preach the kingdom that is coming, up until the day the Father sends the “kingdom of heaven” out of the heavens through the return of Jesus.

My favorite verse of this Psalm is next. It says:

“He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; Therefore He shall lift up the head.”

When we picture the day of the Lord, it is tempting to think of the whole scenario as if it were one instantaneous event that happens all on a single day. Thinking about all that must happen, it becomes obvious that the day of the Lord unfolds over multiple 24 hour days. After years of judgment and tribulation, the dead are raised and we’re gathered in the air at Jesus’ return. The wrath of God is released, Jesus defeats His enemies, and then He inaugurates the kingdom of God on earth.

I would encourage us to view the day of the Lord more like the book of Exodus. It will take time to unfold. After Jesus returns, it may be a matter of weeks or months before He sets foot on the Mount of Olives. Throughout the bible this time period is referred to as a procession. Consider the other processions recorded in the Bible. Read the Exodus. Read about David bringing the ark into Jerusalem. Read about Joseph and Mary’s travels during the census or their escape to Egypt. Consider the many feast pilgrimages the Jews made to Jerusalem throughout the ages. These are all foreshadows of the substance that is Jesus and His works on the day of the Lord.

Real people, including Jesus, will be making real pilgrimage into Israel and up to Jerusalem. Real military battles will be fought. The prophet Ezekiel says it will take months to clean up the dead bodies after it all ends.

Now, think about Jesus’ own procession into Israel and up to Jerusalem on the day of the Lord. He is leading prisoners out of captivity. He is fighting a real battle in a real war. On one hand, Jesus is in His immortal resurrection body. He can’t die. He won’t be defeated. Even so, Jesus will be forever full God and fully man. Maybe He doesn’t need to eat and drink, but just like when the risen Lord ate with His disciples after His own resurrection, He will desire sustenance and refreshment.

This passage shows us that Jesus is refreshing Himself at a brook. This is possibly the first thing He’s consumed in over 2,000 years. Due to the war, wrath, and destruction, He may even need to heal the waters before drinking. Jesus will be traversing the middle east in a great and final exodus. He will want to drink and be refreshed by water. Maybe He won’t need to drink the water, yet Psalm 110 declares to us that He will drink.

This Psalm is designed to remind us of what we’re looking forward to at the transition of the ages. It is designed to remind us what is actually taking place right now in the heavens, and what must come later on the earth. It reminds us that Jesus is still David’s Lord, destined to rule and reign in Jerusalem. It is designed to remind us that we will, in the future, share in this promise with Jesus and all the faithful throughout history, at the Day of the Lord.

We’re reminded that we are called as active participants, not bystanders. We are the volunteers on the day of His power. We’re reminded that there are also things only God can do. We’re reminded not to take the kingdom of God into our own hands, but rather leave room for the wrath of God. Lastly, we’re reminded that, as sure as Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father today, He will also bring forth the beauty of holiness at the dawning of the age to come.

Amen.

J. S. Marek